Boys basketball: Menlo-Atherton breezes by Burlingame, clinches PAL South title

Menlo-Atherton made it official Tuesday, blowing out second-place Burlingame 68-41 to clinch the Peninsula Athletic League South Division championship.

It was a vintage performance for a Menlo-Atherton team that improved to 21-2 on the season, 11-0 in the PAL South. The Bears have absolutely dominated the 10-team division, winning every game by double digits with a 25-point average margin of victory.

And yet it’s a team without superstars that presents a four-headed scoring attack. Four players average between 10 and 12 points per game on the season.

And that’s just the way matters transpired Tuesday. Blake Henry led the way against Burlingame with 15 points. Lucas Fioretti and Eric Norton had 13 apiece. Christian Fioretti scored 12.

“For a team to defend us they’ve got to defend four players,” Menlo-Atherton coach Mike Molieri said.

Burlingame (16-7, 8-3) kept it close in the first quarter, trailing just 14-13, thanks to 7 of 7 foul shooting. M-A broke it open in the second quarter, taking a 33-20 lead at halftime.

Vinny Ferrari tried to get the Panthers back into it in the third quarter when he scored 12 of his game-high 19 points. But it wasn’t enough to offset M-A’s balanced attack as the Bears extended their lead to 51-34 at the end of the third quarter.

“The last three years we lost all three times to Burlingame,” Henry said. “To win every game in league by double digits, even the games that started out close, means a lot. We worked so hard in the off-season. Did a ton in the weight room, a ton on the track.”

Menlo-Atherton concludes PAL South play Thursday against Woodside and then sets its sights on the PAL Tournament.

“The PAL Tournament is real important,” Henry said. “We’re hoping for a rematch with Half Moon Bay in the finals. We had a heartbreaking early loss to them.”

The PAL Tournament final takes place Feb. 20 at Mills. Then the Central Coast Section playoffs begin with M-A very likely to be included in the Open Division bracket.

“Oh well,” Molieri said. “It’s a great opportunity. We deserve it.”

“It’s going to be tough going against a lot of great teams from the WCAL,” Henry said. “But I think we can compete with them. We lost a real close game to Bellarmine and we beat Riordan. We’re looking to play with the best.”